The present invention relates to a conveyor drive mechanism and, in particular, to a conveyor drive mechanism having utility in an elongate conveyor system subject to periodic obstructions to travel, for pinpointing the location of the obstruction.
In the conveying of items upon an endless conveyor belt, there may occur unintended stoppages of the conveyor belt. For example, in the treatment of dough products such as bread loaves and rolls, the unproofed dough is conveyed through a proofing chamber. The dough is contained in pans which are carried upon an endless, often helically-arranged transport conveyor. It may occassionally happen that as the pans traverse a curve, adjacent pans may contact one another in such a way as to become jammed in a manner obstructing the motion of the conveyor. The task of locating the pan jam in order to clear same can be time-consuming, especially in a conveyor system which contains many vertically spaced conveyor runs.
Present conveyor system can be equipped with an overload relief mechanism in the drive motor (usually a hydraulic motor) to terminate the driving action in response to the conveyor belt encountering an unyielding obstruction. However, such a mechanism provides no indication as to the location of the obstruction within the system.
It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to minimize or obviate problems of the type discussed above.
A further object is to enable obstructions to conveyor travel to be quickly pin-pointed, especially in an elongate conveyor having many vertically spaced runs.
A further object is to provide a conveyor drive wheel which includes a sensor for sensing a conveyor stoppage. The signal is utilized to shut-off the motor and/or activate an indicator associated with that particular drive wheel to identify same to maintenance personnel and thereby pinpoint the source of the stoppage.